C. sapidus

What was your family food culture when you were growing up? Stereotypical British food meets American convenience, with an overlay of Jewish culture and food (but not religion): casseroles, carbonized roasts, corned beef, baked fish and chicken, Shepherd’s pie, tinned sardines, kippered herring, spaghetti and meat sauce, Hamburger Helper, Shake-N-Bake, Rice-A-Roni, mushy veggies. Turkey, stuffing, and cranberries for the holidays. Over time, meals evolved to include beef Stroganoff, stuffed peppers, cabbage rolls, curries, artichokes, and steamed veggies. We always had salad on the table, and Dad grew wonderful tomatoes and cucumbers in the garden. He also brought home a dozen still-warm bagels from Bernstein’s Bakery most weekends. Lumpy Cream of Wheat was a special breakfast treat –who knew there was a smooth version, too? During dinner, Dad loved to discuss and debate politics, philosophy, religion, history, economics, and structural engineering. At eight, I knew more about modulus of elasticity than most adults. Through these discussions, I developed a love of learning and a keen interest in honing understanding through dispassionate debate. Debate (“arguing”) drives my wife crazy, unfortunately. Oh, well, our pre-teenaged boys are quite willing to debate. As a teenager, I discovered garlic, chilies, spices, and good coffee. Mom has an extremely sensitive nose, and perhaps because of this avoided raw garlic. When I started adding freshly minced garlic to frozen pizzas, she always asked for “just a taste”. This became a running joke, because her “taste” slowly expanded until it was just shy of a full slice. She always left a sliver of a slice no matter how many times I offered her more. Was meal time important? Dinner took place when Dad came home from work (one of his very few rules, along with “no bickering”). All three children were active in sports and other activities, so we rarely ate together during the week. We grabbed food before or after swim practice (sometimes before and after - we burned up lots of calories). When we were older and Mom went back to work, she cooked ahead on the weekends so there was always prepared food in the refrigerator. Eating in shifts was partly logistics, partly family culture. Dad grew up in an orphanage and Mom spent a lot of time in British boarding schools, so they did not have a tradition of family meals. Perhaps more significantly, one of the strengths of our family is respect for each other’s independence. This also drives my wife crazy. For no particular reason, this reminds me of lazy summer evenings as a young child. Our suburban neighborhood was loaded with kids. If we weren’t at the neighborhood pool, we were catching salamanders at the creek, making firefly lanterns, or organizing neighborhood-wide games of hide-and-go-seek. I have no idea how we knew when to come home for dinner. No one had a watch, we just knew. Was cooking important? Not so much. When we were younger, Mom cooked more for sustenance than for pleasure. Over time, she developed a pretty respectable (if under-spiced) repertoire. One of my happiest childhood culinary memories is when Mom decided to make a chocolate mousse for some momentous but long-forgotten occasion. We spent a heavenly couple of weeks “evaluating” Mom’s chocolate mousse variations. What were the penalties for putting elbows on the table? Mom made gentle attempts to civilize us. Before eating at a friend’s house, we were invariably admonished, “Remember to put your knife and fork together when you are finished eating.” Dad usually undermined these efforts, pointing out that the Queen was unlikely to show up for dinner. This became a running joke in the family – we would carefully check for the Royal Presence before putting our elbows on the table. Interestingly, both parents objected to the “boardinghouse reach”, presumably a relic of institutional childhoods. Licking the plate (“like a doggie”) was discouraged. Who cooked in the family? Mom cooked exclusively when we were younger. Dad had a couple of bachelor meals, including his post-holiday stew of turkey, stuffing, and Worcestershire sauce. My sister baked bread for a while We cooked for ourselves when we got older, especially on the weekends and during summer vacation. Were restaurant meals common, or for special occasions? Restaurants were for special occasions like birthdays. The birthday boy or girl was allowed to choose the restaurant. Dad always lobbied for Kentucky Fried Chicken, and was always outvoted. The rest of us preferred the amazing and inexpensive array of international foods available nearby. We began with Chinese restaurants, then moved on to Indian, Pakistani, Vietnamese, Thai, Malaysian, Lebanese, Greek, Jamaican, Mexican, Cuban, Salvadoran, and Ethiopian restaurants as waves of immigration enriched local dining opportunities. As we started earning our own money (cutting lawns or working at the neighborhood pool), we ate out frequently with friends. As an example of the cheap bounty available, $5 at Jamaica Joe’s would buy two spicy meat patties (with Pickapeppa and Jamaican Hellfire sauce), a bottle of nose-hair-curling ginger beer, dense sweet potato pie, and all the reggae videos you could watch (plus an occasional chorus by the wait staff). We celebrated my college graduation with palak paneer at an Indian vegetarian restaurant. Many special meals were in non-restaurant settings. Crab feasts, cookouts, and pot lucks would enliven holidays and mark the passing of summer. Many pot lucks featured an incredible array of international dishes (no green bean casserole, though). Did children have a "kiddy table" when guests were over? Nope, no kiddy table. No relatives lived nearby, so no huge holiday meals. My parents were dedicated homebodies and rarely hosted large gatherings. This sounds much more antisocial than it was, however. Our friends were always welcome for lunch or dinner, and some spent more time at our house than at their own. When did you get that first sip of wine? My parents drank one glass of Taylor’s New York State sherry every Sunday night. I probably asked for a taste when I was about eight, found it exceedingly unpleasant, and didn’t ask again until I discovered beer as a teenager. Was there a pre-meal prayer? Nope. Was there a rotating menu (e.g., meatloaf every Thursday)? Chef Boy-Ar-Dee pizza every Sunday night. Urg. How much of your family culture is being replicated in your present-day family life? Our present-day family culture probably reflects my wife’s family more than mine. She grew up on a farm and believes strongly in eating dinner together. To the maximum extent possible, we adjust our dinnertime around the boys’ after-school activities. Sometimes this means eating dinner shortly before bedtime, but we rarely miss sitting down to eat as a family. We both cook, and we love to entertain for small groups of friends. The type of food that we eat reflects my love of strong flavors. Elder son is becoming a more adventurous eater and has begun experimenting with table sauces besides ketchup. Younger son checks out cookbooks from the elementary school library, loves making cookies, and is getting pretty good at scrambled eggs. Our boys are from Russia, so we make a few Russian comfort foods for them. They will eat unlimited quantities of borscht, beef Stroganoff, pickles, cucumbers, and beets. They adore meals with our Russian friends, especially if a visiting baba makes blini, Russian salad, or pastry-wrapped meat patties (sorry, I don’t know the Russian name). By the way, I know what Ivan (op) means about Russian bread. We had some amazing baked goods during our trips to Russia. Tolliver, thanks for bumping this thread. It has been fascinating and touching reading. Apologies for the length, but I appreciate the memory-jog. Bruce

Tonight we made Grilled Chicken with Hot and Sweet Dipping Sauce (gai yang, ping gai) from Hot, Sour, Salty, Sweet. It was simple and tasty, and I liked the dipping sauce a lot. I will definitely use the Peppercorn-Coriander Root marinade again. I cooked the chicken in the wok rather than on the grill, mostly out of laziness. For accompaniment, we had jasmine rice and Spicy Cucumber Salad (layout huanggua). The cucumber salad wasn't bad, but the dinner was overloaded with sweet vinegary dressings. This was the first time I had used Sichuan peppercorns, and I enjoyed the numbing-mouthwatering sensation that persisted for some time after the meal. Suzanne: I agree with Austin about stir-frying in smaller batches. Even with a relatively high-BTU burner, I have had better results if I avoid overloading the wok. Good luck, and please report on your results. Bruce

I give our carbon steel wok a quick stove-top seasoning after each use, and it is amazingly non-stick. I use whatever oil is handy, usually peanut oil. Seasoning only takes a few minutes, and our wok is remarkably non-stick Gratuitous yet blurry wok picture: We can remove the center grate on our cook top to make a built-in wok ring. This stabilizes the wok wonderfully, but the flame pattern heats the sides of the wok more than the bottom. This makes stir-frying tricky. As an experiment, tonight I cooked with the wok on top of the grate rather than removing the center of the grate. What a difference! The bottom of the wok was much hotter, and the food cooked much more quickly. Tomorrow I’ll try using the wok ring for stabilization. Woks are great fun. I enjoy the leisurely preparation, lining up all the ingredients, then the burst of frantic activity culminating in a (usually) delicious dinner. Ah Leung, I look forward to your future pictorials. I will be very interested to hear your views on the similarities and differences between cooking with a wok versus using a skillet. Bruce

Tonight I made Thai Fried Rice from Hot, Sour, Salty, Sweet. We make fried rice at least once a week, and this is my favorite so far. For the optional pork, I used (definitely non-traditional but good quality) chorizo from the local Latino market. Per the recipe note, I added some store-bought roasted chile paste (nam prik pao). Four people made four cups of rice (two batches in the wok) disappear very quickly. As an accompaniment, I made a variation of the Simple Cucumber Salad from HSSS. I substituted balsamic vinegar for black rice vinegar. It wasn’t bad, but I prefer the basic Thai cucumber salad that I made before. The main problem with cucumber salads is keeping our boys from eating all of the cucumbers raw. If I get a chance to pick up more cucumbers on the way home tomorrow, I will try Yunnanese Spicy Cucumber Salad. The main course will be Grilled Chicken with Hot and Sweet Dipping Sauce (gai yang, ping gai). Bruce

Renovating our 10 x 12 kitchen brought happiness, but it is expensive happiness to be sure. Using Ikea cabinets eased the financial pain, though. The most happiness-inducing results were: The cooktop isn’t pinned against a side wall (now my wife and I can cook together) Switching the cooktop from electric to gas (I can wok again) The kitchen door opens out (no more getting bonked in the butt while chopping veggies) Efficient layout for three cooks (mother-in-law will be living with us) Effective lighting (good-bye and good riddance to the dim fluorescent light) Storage space for dry goods and cooking equipment (no more microwave on the counter) Spice cabinets, oils, and cooking implements next to the cooktop Decent ventilation over the stove (although I still occasionally induce coughing fits with capsaicin fumes) Pull-out trash next to the big single sink next to dishwasher next to dish and flatware storage (very efficient cleanup and we can hide lots of dirty dishes when entertaining guests) Adding a small prep sink (incredibly useful with >1 cook) Replacing the scary electric panel that had wires stuck in random places (hey, we can cook more if the house doesn’t burn down) We didn’t have room for an island, but a galley is a very efficient layout. The kitchen is open to the dining room, so guests have a place to hang out while we are cooking (the main advantage of an island, imo). Bruce

Wendy: Your dinner looks delicious. Tonight we had stir-fried chicken with Thai holy basil from Hot, Sour, Salty, Sweet. I have been working on cooking herbs and spices until they just release their aroma. With this dish, the basil released a burst of fragrance as it reached the wilting point. Ms. sapidus liked the dish a lot, but I craved a dash of fish sauce and chile heat. Next time I’ll make prik nam pla for accompaniment (Thai fish sauce with hot chilies). I have also been experimenting with Asian cucumber salads. The basic version (heat rice vinegar, water, sugar, salt, and cayenne, pour over sliced, peeled cucumbers) is quite good. I will try the two versions in Hot, Sour, Salty, Sweet this week. Bruce

Get both! Get both! Bruce

With the second third of our Boston butt we made pork pot roast with apricots, cardamom, and ginger. Due to limited liquor supplies we substituted triple sec for apricot brandy, and dry sherry for the white wine. I also cut the cayenne in half for the boys. The meat was tender and tasty, and the sauce had a wonderful complex flavor. This time I carved the pork before re-heating, but it seems more efficient to separate the meat from the fat by pulling the pork after it cools a bit. Our oven must run cool, because the sauce simmered quietly at 340 degrees. The oven manual has a procedure for calibrating the temperature, but we need to find an accurate reference thermometer. Bruce

If you are dining in DC, you really need to go to Adams Morgan and sample all of the wonderful international food. I'm not a regular any more, but there was always good Ethiopian, Mexican, Cuban, etc. Cool area, too. Bruce

Marlene: Thanks for the advice on reducing the juice; I’ll try that next time. Your recipe for ribs is in the dinner queue. I’ll also heed your warning about Le Creusets multiplying like enameled cast-iron rabbits. Saving for a mother-in-law addition should protect us for now. Bruce

OK, here is a less-hurried dinner: spare ribs with mango, lime, and coconut (tastiest cat-barf looking thing I ever et), accompanied by jasmine rice and stir-fried green beans. Off-topic story: we add canned green beans to our dogs' food to control their weight. Accordingly, our boys consider green beans to be dog food rather than people food. In a last-ditch attempt to counter this notion, I stir-fried fresh green beans with bacon and scallions (two of their favorite foods), seasoned with ginger, sesame oil, and vinegar (from Breath of a Wok). No dice; elder son ate two beans, younger son ate one. Bruce

Susan: Good tip on substituting pork butt in the pork/mango dish. We bought a huge Boston butt, used half in the Caribbean pork shoulder, and the other half is in the freezer. Pork Shoulder Hunks with Mango and Lime: The Sequel. Mike: We pulled the pork shoulder and stored it in small microwaveable containers, with the juice in a separate container. I nuked it and scarfed some down on the way to volleyball, and left the remainder semi-warm for the rest of the family when they came home from track practice. That’s probably not what you had in mind when you asked about “service”, but there it is. The ribs, together with the sauce, were refrigerated in a shallow Pyrex dish. I’ll probably re-heat it on the stove to facilitate smooshing up the remaining mango chunks and adjusting the seasoning. Bruce

I made the Caribbean pork shoulder and the ribs with mango, lime, and coconut on Sunday. The pork shoulder was a big hit with the boys; they were stealing pieces from the moment it emerged from the oven. The meat was tender, and the flavor was nice if a bit subtle for my tastes. Of course, I have never been accused of having subtle taste in food. Setting the oven at 300 F maintained a gentle simmer in the pot, although I have never calibrated our oven's temperature. The Boston butt was skinless, so no crispy skin, more's the pity. We served the pork shoulder for dinner tonight with mashed potatoes, pan juices, and raw carrots. Even after solidifying and removing the fat, there was a huge amount of juice. Has anyone tried using the juice for a reduction or thickened gravy? For the ribs with mango, lime, and coconut, I added two remarkably large serranos and the sauce was truly amazing The meat was tender if rather fatty (no country-style ribs to be found, so I used spare ribs). We will have it for dinner on Tuesday with jasmine rice and a string bean stir-fry to be named later. Are country-style pork ribs meatier than spare ribs? A picture of the ribs under artificial light was definitely more suited to the anti-dinner thread. I’ll see if the daylight is more complimentary. Susan (snowangel): thanks for your help! Bruce

Our first two braises from Molly’s book (actually, my first two braises of any sort) will be the Caribbean pork shoulder and the country-style pork ribs with mango, lime, and coconut. The beef rendang and several other spicy recipes are calling to me, but first I want our spice-challenged boys to develop the idea that braising = good eats. I would like to become proficient at braising so that we can make good food on the weekends for consumption on busy school nights. I also like the idea of lunching on the leftovers (if any!) at work. My wife is off to find country-style pork ribs and boneless, skin-on Boston butt, and I’ll gather the remaining ingredients later this afternoon. I do have a couple of questions for the seasoned braisers (so to speak) in the group: We don’t have any cast iron cookware, enameled or otherwise. I was thinking of using a 12” x 2” aluminum sauté pan for the ribs, and a 6-quart stainless steel Dutch oven for the pork shoulder. Do these choices seem reasonable? In a somewhat related question, Molly calls for 300 degrees F for the pork shoulder. Should I start around 250F and work up? Thanks for your help, and any other suggestions are welcomed. I have read through the entire thread and noted popular recipes from the book. I’ll also google the recipes for comments. If this braising thing works out, there is a Le Creuset outlet nearby Bruce

Melonpan: There are two pints in a U.S. liquid quart (and two cups in a pint, if that doesn't muddy the waters). To a first approximation, one liter = one quart. I worked in a lab, so I prefer the metric system, too. Bruce

I took the day off for final inspection on our kitchen (we passed - yay!). With the luxury of an of a leisurely breakfast, I made a variant of Mamster's Thai omelette. I cooked the omelette with red curry paste, julienned phrik chii fah, and holy basil, then garnished with sriracha and fluorescent-pink pickled ginger. OK, leisure is over, time to clean the fish tank, fix the doorbell, change the oil, finish doing taxes . . .

Susan (Florida version): that is one fine-looking pot of rice. I'll have to look for the "grains standing up firmly" next time. Susan (Minnesota version): yes, a shower will wash off the "honeydew". Outdoors, rain probably does the same thing. Bruce

Kent Wang: As I understand it, the heat transfer drops very sharply with distance so lifting the wok would essentially stop heating. I have never tried induction, though. Many induction hobs use a ceramic surface, so breakage could be an issue with using the pao technique. Do you use an "eared" wok, or one with a handle? Bruce Edited to add info about ceramic surfaces.

We made a mostly-Thai dinner yesterday for a long-time friend and his family. The menu included: Spinach salad Tom yum goong Green curry beef Jasmine rice Coconut rice Kabobs for the kids Grilled pineapple with vanilla ice cream I made the green curry paste in the mortar, doubling the chilies because the locally-available green phrik khii noo are pretty tame. I think I’m getting the hang of this dish, but I’d love to try it with the small green eggplants that Austin has recommended. Elder son ate a goodly amount of the green curry. It was a bit spicy for him, but he doesn’t like to mix foods so he eats the rice separately. I’m also getting the hang of jasmine rice. Compared with basmati rice, jasmine rice seems best with less liquid and about 5 minutes shorter cooking time. Elder son made a nice sweet/sour/salty salad dressing for the spinach salad. My wife made some wonderful kebabs with beef, pearl onions, Thai eggplant, zucchini, and variously-hued bell peppers. For the tom yum goong, I simmered shrimp shells in chicken stock. It gave the soup a nice flavor. Unfortunately, I overdosed the soup with chilies. Despite immediately removing the chilies (after maybe 30 seconds!), the flavor balance was off. Live and learn – it was my first time making this soup. Next time I will try to find shrimp with their heads on and make a shrimp broth a la David Thompson. For dessert, my wife grilled pineapple with a coating of coconut milk, sugar, lemon zest, and ground cloves. It was delish, especially with vanilla ice cream. After living in Hawaii, she was able to give excellent advice on choosing a good pineapple. No pictures of the groaning table, but here is what the leftovers looked like for breakfast. The small glass bowl holds all of the surviving green curry. Susan (snowangel): the sticky deposits on your kaffir lime look like scale insect residue. Scale insects suck the plant juices and leave the sticky residue behind. Scale insects are very difficult to eradicate, and it probably isn’t necessary unless the plant is struggling. Bruce

Austin: I found fresh phrik chii faa in the local Asian market. The chilies looked like your picture and had a nice taste - sweet, with almost no heat. They are in the freezer for future use. I posted pictures of leftovers from our mostly-Thai extravaganza on the Thai cooking at home thread. They made a lovely breakfast. Bruce

Ah Leung: I'm following your choice with great interest. I have a 20-year old round-bottom carbon steel wok with two wooden handles. One of the handles broke as I was removing some extremely hot food the other day. I stuck the handle back together, but it probably isn't terribly safe. I'm really bummed, because the wok is beautifully seasoned - nothing sticks to it. If you want to consider a non-traditional (and unfortunately quite expensive) wok burner, check out Cooktek's induction burners for woks. The MW-3500 produces the equivalent of 31,000 BTUs. Induction works with any wok that a magnet will stick to (carbon steel, cast iron, and some stainless steels). Salt and pepper shrimp is wonderful. Our gas cooktop produces 22,000 BTUs (infernoo has nothing to worry about from us), and the wok sits down inside a removable ring in the grate. Even so, we have to cook the shrimp in fairly small batches Good luck -- Bruce

I'm surprised that no one has mentioned rosewater lassi. Yum! Bruce

I made mamster's thai omelet (kai yat sai) this morning. Oh, my, I may have found the breakfast for the rest of my life. Eggs, key lime juice, fish sauce, white pepper, and cilantro, topped with a little sriracha. Infinite future variations. A vista opens. No pictures – I goofed up the flipping part. More peanut oil next time should help. Note to self: remember to get more eggs on the way home. Bruce

Austin: I need to look over my recipes, and may have questions later in the week. Your insight would be greatly appreciated. One of our guests is not a big fan of cilantro, so I’ll probably serve that on the side. I’ll try to take some pictures for the Thai Cooking at Home thread. ChefCrash: Cayennes and Jalapenos will turn red when fully ripe, so you might try leaving them on the plant a bit longer to develop more consistent heat. We usually pick chilies after they have started turning red. Our potted chilies are usually hot, but pots drain well and dry quickly. The chilies that we grew in the ground last year were eaten by a rampaging cherry tomato plant. Bruce

ChefCrash: heat, sun, drought, and time to ripen make chilies hotter. Chilies also tolerate dry soil better than plants such as tomatoes. A lot of rain make tomatoes watery and dilute their favor; perhaps this also happens with chilies (we usually grow ours in pots, so I don’t know). Are your plants in full sun? Were the mild chilies fully ripe? Did the lack of heat correspond with a cool spell? Also, when you said the “same plant”, did you over-winter the plant indoors or was the plant grown from seed? Seed-grown plants can vary considerably because pollen from a mild chile (even a bell pepper) may have fertilized the hotter chilies and produced milder offspring. Interesting problem. I would love to hear more. Bruce